McDermott admires Baggies' Premier League progress

Reading FC manager Brian McDermott admires the way West Bromwich Albion have established themselves in the Premier League

The ‘Boing, boing Baggies’ were in the past seen as the epitome of a yo-yo club in English football.

But Reading manager Brian McDermott is in awe of the way in which West Bromwich Albion have established themselves as a Premier League club after years of flirting between the top leagues.

After a blistering start to the season, Steve Clarke’s side have encountered somewhat of a blip – losing five of their last eight Premier League games.

And McDermott believes that although the West Midlands side have been through rocky waters in the past, they look to now be sailing on calmer seas.

He said: “It’s the kind of club we look at and try to emulate.

“They got themselves relegated and came straight back again with Roberto Di Matteo, and they’ve been really solid in the last couple of years.

“Steve Clarke’s carried it on and done really well, a really good job. It’s a good club.”

The underlying story line to everyone connected to Reading when playing West Brom is the return of Shane Long, the ex-Royals player who lived with McDermott when he first came over to England from Ireland.

“I speak to Shane regularly, he’s a friend,” continued McDermott.

“He’s been terrific. The impact he’s made since he was 18-years-old is just phenomenal.

“I’ve always talked about Shane, people think I’m biased, but Shane can play for anyone in the country in my opinion.

“He’s a great character who works really hard. Sir Alex Ferguson mentioned him the other day and talked about what a top player he was and he knows what he’s on about.

“He might end up at a top-four club, that wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility. He’s got everything you need.

“He can score goals, his touch is really good and he holds the ball up well. He wins headers, he works hard for the team, what’s not to like about him? I remember when I first put him in the team at Reading and he wasn’t scoring, but he was giving us so much.

“Then he started to score as well and he was phenomenal for us. He’s exactly what Reading are about, you can explain this club in two words: Shane Long.”

McDermott continued. “I will never forget the play-off final at Wembley.

“He was devastated and he wanted to stay. I wanted him to stay, but we couldn’t afford to keep him. We had to sell to survive.”

McDermott and director of football Nick Hammond have been working non stop in January to bring in their No.1 targets to prevent Royals from becoming the next yo-yo side. getreadingunderstands that McDermott is after a striker to bolster his frontline with Jason Roberts out injured and Simon Church likely to join a Championship club by the end of the window.

Playing his cards close to his chest, McDermott did confirm that they were in talks with a Premier League player about a permanent transfer to Madejski Stadium.

He said: “We’ve got a couple of players in and we’re trying to get another one in – we’re still looking.

“We’re working within the means we are set and we feel we’ve signed a couple of really good players. I’m always optimistic.

“We want to have the best environment in the league. It’s easy to sell the club to players because I believe in it.”